Half a mile of bookcase

Expanded Altoona

At 15 feet, the new bookcase under Altoona yard measures a scale half mile long. The yard area is now 24" wide. I relocated the mains by cutting the foam roadbed and moving the entire assembly onto the expanded benchwork. The track alignment seen at left is only temporary, however, so trains could be run for grandchildren. You can see that there is now quite a bit of space between the passenger mains and the mainline approaching The Curve. The freight  mains are currently near their final location through the center of the yard. This entire area is currently being reworked to fit the latest track plan. The foam roadbed you see here has already been replaced and will be the subject of a later article.

Latest Track Plan

The new yard is quite a bit different from Dave Smith's plan, although I did try to adapt the idea of separate receiving and departure tracks. The yard is now split into two sections separated by the freight mains. Left of the mains is the "eastward" section. To the right is the "westward" section. At the lower end of the yard (east on the layout) is the East Altoona roundhouse and steam locomotive service area. The three tracks to the left of the roundhouse are a proposed diesel house and service facility. The full circle roundhouse used at the real location will be replace with a semi-circle patterned after the facility at Crestline, Ohio. The helix showed at the lower right will not be completed for some time. Gallitzin and East Altoona are "temporarily" connected by a straight section of four track main.

I had thought of widening The Curve somewhat but the space between the yard and the helix prohibits any adjustment  in that area. I  would like to realign all the curves to an 18" minimum on the inner track, but that may not be possible.

Trains were running for Christmas, although they were very short "test" consists (locomotive an caboose) on all four tracks. My grandsons Lucas and Andrew didn't seem to mind. Once I told Andrew that the Glen White Shay was a logging locomotive like Ferdinand (from Thomas the Tank Engine "Misty Island Rescue") the little sidewinder became the star attraction. Andrew is the biggest railfan in the family (next to me) and like his grandfather is obsessed with the Iron Horse in any form. Lucas, while not as rabid as Andrew and I, still loves trains and likes to watch them run. Despite the unfinished state of the layout, it was still a hit and we spent a couple hours watching them run over the mainline.

The track in the yard area is now torn up and the new roadbed has been laid. The mainline should be open for operations again by the time the second wave of grandkids visits later this month.